Parliament starts stakeholder consultations on UPDF (Amendment) Bill 2025

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The legal and parliamentary affairs committee, led by Stephen Bakka Mugabi (Bukooli North, NRM) and the Defence committee, chaired by Wilson Kajwengye (Nyabushozi County, NRM), have commenced engagements on the contentious Uganda People's Defence Forces (AMENDMENT) bill 2025.

The development comes a day after the revised Bill was tabled on the floor. At the core, it seeks to streamline the General Court Martial, which was disbanded by the Supreme Court early this year.

Speaking during the hearing on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, Mugabi said they have limited time to process this Bill.

Present were defence minister, Jacob Marksons Oboth Oboth, and the Attorney General (AG), Kiryowa Kiwanuka.

Kiryowa Kiwanuka, Attorney General. (Photo by Miriam Namutebi)

“While referring the Bill to the joint committee, the right honourable Speaker indicated that we need to conclude this Bill before the end of the fourth session. And, from what I've heard from the office of the clerk, I did some consultations. This session might end this week. The speaker might prorogue the house on Friday,” he said.

“It means that you'll have up to Friday to conclude this Bill by way of committee hearings and eventually the report and the second reading, and the third reading. So, we don't have a lot of time.”

While the Bill has raised a lot of dust within legal and political circles, Mugabi expressed optimism that the matters therein will be amicably settled by the House.

Abdu Katuntu, the Member of Parliament for Bugweri County, Bugweri District.

Abdallah Kiwanuka (Mukono North MP).

“It is within our mandate, colleagues, that we give this Bill thorough scrutiny to ensure that it passes the constitutional test. I imagine that we are all aware of the Supreme Court ruling, and so our role, as a committee, is to ensure that we are going with the law. It cannot be Parliament that can wake up one morning and upstage what the Supreme Court did,” he argued.

Lt Gen. Peter Elwelu, Army rep.

Officials from the Defence Ministry and Attorney General’s chambers appearing before the committee.

Nabokov Namanya, Rubabo constituency MP.

MPs respond

However, several lawmakers, including Erute South MP Jonathan Odur (UPC), protested to them about what appeared like a rushed process.

Jonathan Odur, Erute County South MP. (Photo by Miriam Namutebi)

Derrick Nyeko, Makindye East Division MP. (Photo by Miriam Nmautebi)

Arguing that usually, the MPs are given time to scrutinise Bills and discuss them at the committee stage before they can dive into public engagements, which did not occur this time round.

“There may be things that I am not comfortable discussing in the presence of various witnesses that are going to appear before us. It has been the practice that before we host witnesses, we sit and schedule and take care of the concerns, including generating the list of people we would like to consult and draw a programme. I see that has been overlooked,” Odur contended.

“You make it look suspicious that there may have been prior engagements on this bill by Parliament, and yet the bill was just introduced yesterday. It would not be good for the public with whom we interacted. This is the first time I've seen. Even in the afternoon, until this morning, I doubt that all the members have gone far. This is a bill of 144 pages and about 87 clauses. Which I think we should have processed internally and reached a consensus,” he added.